


Clarity

by Keiko Kirin (sakana17)



Category: The Mod Squad (TV)
Genre: Gen, Huddling For Warmth, Hurt/Comfort, OT3, Temporary Blindness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 11:30:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8843032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakana17/pseuds/Keiko%20Kirin
Summary: When Pete's desperate attempt to save a girl goes wrong, Linc and Julie are there to save him.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rabidsamfan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rabidsamfan/gifts).



> Many, many thanks to T., expert on all things Californian and beta reader extraordinaire.

The old fishing boat chugged through fierce waves. Its outboard motor whined from the strain. Pete stared ahead at the lights on Freddy's speedboat, shrinking in the darkness as it pulled further away. 

"Eliza!" Pete called out. Useless. She was on that boat, clinging to her dreams, following Freddy on his path of drug-fueled self-destruction. Pete had to reach her, bring her back, try one more time to save her before it was too late.

Salt sea air sprayed over him as he choked more life into the creaking motor. He spared an apologetic thought for the bewildered old fisherman who had reluctantly let him borrow his boat. Longer apologies were silently sent to Linc and Julie, who'd arrived just as Pete had pulled away from shore. Delaying even a few seconds had seemed too risky; now Pete wished they were with him. He could hear Linc's soft counsel: "Let her go, man. Can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved." He could picture Julie's sympathetic look.

Too late now. He had set his course and intended to follow it. The lights ahead seemed larger and fixed. Had this old junker of a fishing boat actually closed the distance? Pete's heart raced with hope and determination.

Then the sky ripped apart with a roar, a searing white light rending the night. A shock wave threw Pete from the boat and he plunged into cold choppy water suddenly littered with sharp debris. He struggled against the pull of the current and broke the surface, gulping for air. Acrid smells of smoke and gasoline assaulted his lungs. A thunderous bell rung continuously, but beneath it he could hear his name. Faint and far away. 

He coughed violently and tread water. Something sharp and heavy careened into him, knocking his head back. Stunned by the blow, he faltered in the water and started to slide under. Water assaulted him and he pushed himself upward, reaching, clawing, grabbing at nothing until air swept across his face. 

The blackness. The confusion of objects touching him. There was no break between the sky and the sea. Only the clammy touch of air and the bitter smell of burning told him he was keeping his head above water.

He couldn't see.

"Pete!" The voice was louder but still muffled behind the pealing bell. Another voice joined in, chorusing, "Pete!"

Pete opened his mouth to shout and was promptly racked with coughs. The burning smell was more intense, rushing to clog his lungs. 

"Pete!" The voices seemed to be drifting away, invisible, like the flotsam prodding and scratching him. 

Fighting rising panic, Pete swallowed a deep, sour breath and managed to call out, "Over here!" It sounded weak and far away to his ringing ears. He tried again, but his voice cracked and crumbled in a fit of coughing.

And still the blackness surrounded him and it was becoming something solid and suffocating. How long could he fight it? How long could he battle the water, so vast and powerful? Even now its icy fingers reached into his skin. His arms and legs slowed, numb and heavy. Every breath felt like swallowing razor blades. Giving in, letting go, conceding the fight would be so easy. So much easier than living in this pain and darkness.

Linc. Julie. He thought of them. He remembered laughter, tears, and the quietness of just being. No scene, no danger, nothing heavy. Those moments between assignments when the three of them just _were_. That was peace. That was family. And it was beautiful.

Pete kicked and pushed his arms and legs into cooperating, forced more razor blades into his lungs. Julie. Linc. No way he could leave them. Not like this.

"Pete!" The voices drifted by again, and Pete called back though it sounded like hardly more than a whisper.

"It's Pete! Linc, over here!" Julie's voice was so clear and close and was the best thing he had ever heard in his life. "He's here, he's here!"

Things in the water stirred and bumped around him, causing him to sink again for a moment. He forced himself up again and heard Linc's calm command, "Take it easy, man. I got you."

And true to his word, Linc had him. One firm salvation grip around Pete's arm dragged him forward. A quick moment of chaos and Linc grabbed his other arm and lifted him from the vise of the sea. Pete toppled against him and landed on something hard and unsteady and reeking of fish.

"Oh, Pete." Julie's slender, gentle fingers touched his temple and forehead. 

He coughed up water and took deep breaths as he rolled onto his back. His limbs were dead weights. He blinked up at nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"Hey, you had us scared for a moment there," Linc said, his voice falling uncertainly as he added, "Pete? You okay?"

It wasn't sea water streaming from his eyes, Pete knew. He was crying. With relief and with grief. Linc and Julie had saved him. They were right here and he couldn't see them.

Julie pressed a palm over his forehead. Pete wanted to reach up and take her hand but his arms wouldn't obey. It was as if the cold water had turned him into ice.

"We have to get him to shore," Julie said urgently.

"Already on it," Linc replied.

The boat bumped and rocked as they moved through the water. Pete squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened his eyes all he saw was blackness. He closed his eyes again.

Julie rubbed warmth into his hands and covered him with something light and soft that smelled faintly of her shampoo. Her coat, he thought, grateful to her but worried about her getting cold. 

"Thanks, angel," he said quietly.

She touched his brow. "Do you feel all right?"

Pete tested and found he could move his arms. He propped up on his elbows and cleared his throat. "Hey. I gotta tell you something." He paused. It was harder to say than he thought it would be. "I, uh. I can't see."

"Oh, Pete..." Julie murmured, holding his hand.

"The explosion," Linc said definitively. "Has to be."

"Explosion? What--" Pete fell quiet. Of course. The light flash, the debris, the stench of fuel and burning. He had been so rattled by his own condition, he hadn't given thought to what had caused it. The strength left his arms and he slid back against the boat. "Eliza." He swallowed a sob.

"I'm sorry." Linc's voice was gentle. 

The boat shook and shuddered to a stop. Linc's strong hands pulled Pete to his feet and guided him from the boat. Julie pressed close to wrap her coat around him. With Linc's arm across his shoulders and Julie's hand on his back Pete trod heavily and awkwardly on uneven boards.

"Careful. There's a step here." Julie patted his back encouragingly.

"And sand after that," added Linc.

Pete stumbled as his feet sank into the sand. His boots were soaked and felt like leg irons dragging him down.

"Where are we?" Again he squeezed his eyes shut and opened them slowly, hoping for a different result. Again, blackness.

Linc shifted his arm to hold Pete upright. "Not sure. Straight shot from where we were out on the ocean, just up from Point Dume. Looks like someone's private dock, but there's no beach house."

Julie guided Pete's arm to her shoulders and they trudged up a steep slope. Rough rock outcroppings scraped against Pete's legs and he lost his balance again.

"I don't know if I can make it," he said, and stopped when the next obstacle struck his shin. "You two go ahead. The highway's gotta be close. You can find out where we are."

This was met with silence and Pete imagined their looks of stubborn resistance. "I'll be okay. Promise."

"No, man, we're not leaving you." Linc's insistence left no room for an argument.

Julie shifted. "Look. Up there. I see something."

They practically dragged him now, their strength keeping him moving. Pete silently railed at himself for being so helpless. He was about to plead with them again to leave him behind and go find help when the rocky ground beneath them changed. They stepped onto a solid surface and Linc and Julie lowered Pete to sit on a cold floor. He flattened his palms against it and it felt like wooden planks, smooth and tightly laid together.

"What is this place?" he asked.

There was a small metallic click Pete guessed was a flashlight being switched on.

After a moment Linc said, "An old beach hut. Looks like it's been abandoned for a while. Not much here." 

There were scuffles and scrapes and suddenly a barrage of dust and sand assaulted him. Pete sneezed and nearly choked.

"Sorry. Found an old beach blanket." Linc's bootsteps crossed the floor and Pete heard the sounds of forceful pounding on thick fabric.

"We have to keep you warm," Julie said, the concern in her voice so tender that Pete wasn't sure he could handle it. She sat down beside him, pressed close, and rearranged her coat around his shoulders.

"Aren't you cold too?" he asked.

"No, I'm all right." She patted his hand and rubbed at his icy fingers. 

"This'll help," said Linc. "I got most of the dirt out." He sat down on the other side of Pete and helped Julie spread the tough, scratchy blanket over all three of them. For the first time tonight Pete felt warm. He wished he could see them, see where they were, help them figure out their next move.

"Guys, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone off like that on my own. I was just trying to save her."

Julie leaned her head on Pete's shoulder. "We know."

"It's cool," Linc added. "If we'd been on that boat together, we'd all be in the water right now."

Pete managed half a smile. "That's true. Where did you get your boat to come after me?"

"We saw you talking to that fisherman on the dock before you went after Eliza," Julie replied. "Linc found another fisherman willing to lend us his boat."

"For ten bucks," Linc put in. 

"Ouch. Sorry." Pete winced. "Thanks for saving me. Even though I won't be able to repay you."

"What do you mean?" Julie asked.

Pete took a deep breath. It was hard to say, hard to face up to, but he owed them everything. 

"I mean I'm out of it now. For good. Before, it was because I thought I could help more people by running the Cochran Foundation. But now, man. Now, it's because I can't do anything. I'm telling you -- I'm blind."

He thought of Janny Wells and of Cathy. Their confidence and courage. How did they do it? He wanted to be as strong as they were, but right now all he felt was useless.

"No." Linc was adamant. Pete sucked in another breath to argue but Linc said again, "No. It's temporary blindness from the explosion and stress. It'll pass. Happens all the time."

"Not to me it doesn't!" Pete shouted, expecting them to pull back from him. Instead they huddled closer. In the silence of their refusal to let him go, Pete had nothing to say and no will to push them away. He slumped against them, tired of fighting the blindness and hopelessness.

It was a long time before anyone spoke. Pete's anguished thoughts swirled back to Eliza and Freddy. If only he'd gotten to the dock sooner. If only he could have stopped her.

"Hey," he said quietly. "That explosion. What happened?"

"Freddy's boat was leaking fuel," Linc explained. "We could see it on the water. He must have been pushing the engine, trying to go as fast as possible. Dangerous combination."

That summed up Freddy. Pete shook his head. "Eliza was only trying to find something, someone. Anything to hold on to. She was just like everybody else. Looking for meaning in the world."

"Cats like Freddy know how to get to people like Eliza." Linc's voice softened. "She was a groovy girl."

Julie's hand slipped into Pete's. They fell into silence again. After a while, needing the connection, Pete slid his other hand into Linc's and Linc gripped it firmly. 

"Hey, Julie. We need your beach friend now," Linc gently teased her.

"It would be nice to see him again," Julie said dreamily. "I miss him sometimes."

"Captain Greer's not a good substitute?" Pete kidded.

"I'm afraid not. Sorry, Captain." Pete heard the smile in her voice and though it sent a pang of pain through him because he couldn't see it, it was also comforting.

"Speaking of Greer," he said. "He won't know where we are. We have to get out of here, find the road, go back."

"Keep the faith," said Linc. "You've gotta warm up. We'll stay put, rest for a while, leave when it gets light."

_I won't know when it gets light,_ Pete thought, angry again at himself and his condition. Julie and Linc must have felt him tense or read his thoughts because they both squeezed his hands. He relaxed and his exhaustion caught up with him. He fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes, he braced himself for blackness. He saw -- _saw_ \-- grey and brown.

Pete immediately scooted to sit upright, blinking and rubbing his eyes. Things were blurry but he saw the shack they were in. He saw the dusty old green blanket covering him. He looked up and saw Julie standing and watching out a window. He started to speak but the words stuck in his throat, blocked by a mute sob. He wiped a few stray tears from his eyes and his vision focused to clarity.

Linc came in through the doorway -- no door swung from its rusty hinges -- and stopped in front of him and smiled wide. "Hey. Looks like you're back."

Pete jumped to his feet and rushed for them both, wrapping them in his arms and pulling them into a big hug. "It is so good to be back. It's beautiful. _You're_ beautiful. Both of you."

"Oh, Pete." Julie squeezed him in her arms, beaming at him. Her smile and eyes were as bright as the sunlight on her hair.

Linc chuckled and hugged him back. "Out of the darkness, into the light. Solid."

"Did you find the road?" Julie asked Linc, speaking around Pete. Pete wasn't willing to let them go. Not just yet.

"Yeah. Not too far from here. And there's a house up ahead. They might have a phone we can use. If not, we can't be too far from the dock and where we parked the car."

"I don't care, man," said Pete, grinning. "I don't care how long the walk is. I got you back."

"We never left," Linc said.

Pete's grin softened and he loosened his hold on them. "I know. But I almost did, and you got me through it. Again."

Julie pulled back to look into his eyes. "Again and always." 

Linc rested his hand on Pete's shoulder. "That's right. Always."

Pete smiled at them both. "Groovy." He looked down at his water-ruined boots, still-damp jeans, and fish-smelling shirt. "Now let's get out of here so I can change and take you both out. My treat."

"Tacos?" suggested Linc.

"For breakfast?" Julie looked skeptical.

"Why not?" Pete laughed. "Tacos it is."

It was a bright morning, sun piercing through low coastal clouds, and the breeze fresh and crisp. He slung his arms around them as they left the beach hut, this time not needing their support, but knowing he would always have it anyway, as they would have his. 

-The End-


End file.
